Ansal brothers give SC an undertaking not to leave the country

Real estate magnates, the Ansal brothers on Monday assured the Supreme Court that they would not leave the country till it heard the plea by the CBI and the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) for review of September 22, 2015 verdict.

Counsel for Ansals gave the undertaking after bench headed by Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar sought the one.

The bench sough the undertaking after senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi appearing for the AVUT expressed the apprehensions that Ansal brothers may flee the country before the hearing of the review plea.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, along with AVUT, have sought the recall of 2015 order by which a three judge bench had let-off the Ansals - Sushil and Gopal - on paying Rs 30 crore each coupled with the sentence they have already undergone for June 13, 1997 fire tragedy in their Uphaar cinema in south Delhi that left 59 dead.

The three judge bench comprised Justice Anil R.Dave (since retired), Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.

On January 8, this year, the three judges had decided to hold an open court hearing on the plea by the CBI and AVUT seeking the recall of 2015 order in which the top court had said that the magnitude of the Uphaar fire tragedy may call for "higher sentence" but it could not go beyond the choices under the law.

The trial court November 20, 2007, had convicted Ansal brothers and others and sentenced them to two years jail each but the high court December 19, 2008 convicted them under a different section of the Indian Penal Code and reduced their sentence to one year each.

Meanwhile, on November 7, Ansals had urged the top court to hold an early hearing of their plea for the de-sealing of Uphaar cinema which is under lock since the tragedy.

--IANS

pk/vd